Ora 03 Review (2024-present)

What is the Ora 03?

The Ora 03 is a compact electric hatchback with something of an identity crisis.

Let’s start with what Ora itself is. It’s a branch of Chinese manufacturer Great Wall Motors, or GWM. GWM has actually had a presence in the UK before with the Great Wall Steed pick-up truck, and it’s worth pointing out that Great Wall Motors is actually a big and very well-established company in China. But, GWM Ora is very much a new brand that’s designed to ingratiate Great Wall into Europe and beyond.

So, now we know about GWM Ora, what about the GWM Ora 03? Well, you might well have seen the car around before, because for a couple of years before it became the boringly named 03, it was on sale in the UK as the fabulously named Ora Funky Cat. That was due to a change in naming conventions throughout the company to accommodate future model offerings, we assume so that the names of the company’s cars didn’t become too bonkers. More’s the pity. Otherwise, though, very little has changed about the car, except the introduction of a longer-range variant with a higher-spec trim level.

The entry-level Pure+ car has a 48kWh lithium-ion battery (total capacity, that is, usable capacity is 45.4kWh), supplying a single 169bhp electric motor driving the front wheels. The official WLTP combined range is 193 miles. The Pro+ version, meanwhile, has a 63kWh battery, giving up to 260 miles of range, while power and performance remains largely the same.

You can buy the car through the company’s website, or through various well-established local dealers, such as Arnold Clarke and Pendragon, and there are also a handful of Ora-dedicated ‘hubs’ across the country.

At 4.24-metres long, the car is bigger than alternatives such as the Peugeot e-208 and Vauxhall Corsa Electric, and is a bit smaller than family electric hatches such as the Cupra Born, MG4, Nissan Leaf and Volkswagen ID.3, so the Ora can claim to be a rival to all of them. The shorter range version, with its style-focussed attitude, could also be considered a rival for electric city car urban specialists such as the Fiat 500 Electric, Mazda MX-30 and Mini Electric. Like some of those cars, it aims to mark itself out with its interesting retro-modern styling: if you squint a bit, we reckon there’s a faint whiff of Porsche 911 about the car’s front end.

How practical is it?

We’ll start with the glaring flaw in the car’s arsenal: the boot space. At 228 litres, it is tiny compared with rivals like the VW ID.3, Nissan Leaf, Renault Zoe and others, and isn’t much bigger than the boots you get in those teeny urban electric vehicles we’ve already mentioned. Which is all the more frustrating as the space in the rear seats - particularly in the legroom stakes - is very generous. Despite that, though, the small boot means the car doesn’t have enough practicality for family car drivers, because there’s not enough space for a buggy, a dog, regular big shops, and certainly not all of the above. There’s no storage space in the nose of the Ora, as there is in the BMW i3, for instance.

Still, it really is impressively spacious in those back seats, and it’s great in the front seats, too. Ora is intending the car to be a premium offering, and hence, the overall perceived build quality and material finish of the cabin is very good, too, better than you might expect of a Chinese car, and is certainly better than that of the MG4. Plus, there are some bright, dual-tone finishes available that feel appropriately eccentric and in-keeping with the art-deco exterior styling.

It's a comfortable driver’s seat, too, and there’s enough range of movement from the standard electric adjustment that even lanky drivers will be able to find a good driving position. Unfortunately, the rearward visibility is poor due to the small rear window, and there’s also no rear wiper, so it’ll get mucky very quickly in a British winter.

What’s it like to drive?

The two versions of the 03 have different powertrains, but the difference lies in the battery capacity, and therefore, the range of the two cars. Power and performance are virtually identical, both getting a 169bhp motor driving the front wheels, and both accelerating from 0-62mph in a little over eight seconds. In reality, the car feels a little more sprightly than that figure suggests, and so will be quick enough for most people.

Otherwise, the 03 feels pleasant but unexceptional to drive. It feels stable and predictable in any situation, staying unflustered on the motorway and confident on a country road. Brake feel is good, too, making the Ora super-easy to drive smoothly, and there’s a one-pedal drive mode courtesy of the variable regenerative braking system.The steering is light (although you can make it weightier by selecting Sport mode) and it’s easy to point the car’s nose precisely, but slow steering response and a large diameter steering wheel make the 03 feel less wieldy around town than rivals like the MG4 and Cupra Born.

Ride comfort is a touch choppy in the Ora at lower speeds, too. Even on standard 18-inch alloy wheels, it struggles to settle over scruffy surfaces, although it does calm down on faster roads and never feels harsh enough to be a deal-breaker.

Technology, equipment & infotainment

When it was called the Funky Cat, the car was available in First Edition and First Edition+ trims, but with the renaming of the car, the names of the versions have also been changed, now being known as Pure+ and Pro+.

Perhaps the biggest difference is the batteries on board the two versions. The Pure+ has a 48kWh battery pack, delivering a WLTP range of 193 miles, while the Pro+ gets a 63kWh item, giving up to 260 miles of range.

Both specifications get the same infotainment system, which comprises two 10.25-inch digital screens, one behind the steering wheel to act as your instrument panel and another in the centre of the dashboard to take care of your entertainment functionality. As is becoming more and more popular these days, both screens are integrated into the same unit. The system supports most of the functionality you expect, including wireless phone charging, digital radio and voice control. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto weren’t supported initially, but these were added halfway through 2024, and customers with cars that predated that could get it retrofitted free of charge at their dealer.

While the system has good graphics, some of the on-screen icons are very small and difficult to hit precisely when you’re driving. That includes basics like changing the radio, and even changing the temperature or climate control settings, which you have to do by leaving your sat-nav screen and going into the climate menu. The screen also reflects glare quite badly, which can make it hard to see properly on a bright day.

The Pure+ version also gets electric front seats, vegan leather upholstery, adaptive cruise control with traffic jam assist, keyless entry and start, climate control, rear parking sensors and 360-degree cameras.

Pro+ trim adds heated-, cooled- and massaging front seats, heated steering wheel, panoramic sunroof, powered gesture tailgate, front parking sensors and advanced parking assistance. Despite the name, caffeine tablets aren’t provided.

Ora 03 running costs

Taking into account the generous level of equipment and the perceived quality you get for your money, list prices for the 03 look fairly reasonable, although monthly finance rates do look a little steep compared with those of some rivals.

The Pure+ version gets a 48kWh battery, giving an official range of 193 miles. Expect more like 170 doing mixed driving in warm temperatures, or 140 when it’s cold. The Pro+ version has a 63kWh battery for an official range of 260 miles, so expect real-world averages of around 240 in favourable conditions and 210 in colder temperatures.

If you juice up your car at home, like most EV owners do, then a full charge of the Pure+ will cost you around £13 if you pay the national average cost for your household electricity. Charging the Pro+ will cost £17 at the same rate. However, if you charge your car overnight using discounted off-peak power tariffs, then you can easily cut that cost in half. Conversely, you can comfortably double that figure if using a public DC rapid charger.

Ora 03 reliability

It’s impossible to say how reliable the Ora 03 will be, as it’s such an unknown car, and an unknown brand, in the UK. However, the 03 does get a five-year, unlimited-mileage warranty, and there’s an eight-year, 100,000-mile warranty on the lithium-ion battery as well. Five years of roadside assistance is also included for free.